Suzuki's facelifted 2020 Vitara starts at PhP 1.038M
New look Suzuki Vitara quietly arrives in the Philippines
It was around two years ago when Suzuki Philippines (SPH) rejoined the lucrative B-segment crossover market with the all-new Vitara. Made to compete against the likes of the Nissan Juke, the Vitara proved to be a sleeker, smaller, and more popular model than its predecessor, the Grand Vitara.
Fast forward to present day, and SPH has quietly launched the updated Vitara for the 2020 model year. Featuring a bolder exterior, a slightly tweaked interior, as well as a few more toys, Suzuki is poised to keep their B-segment crossover fighter fresh and ready to take on new and existing players in the market.
Starting with the most obvious changes, the Vitara now has a new-style front grill. The two-bar design from before has been replaced by six vertical slats. The LED headlights, meanwhile, have been made to look sharper than ever. In addition, the crossover gets new foglight bezels, reshaped LED daytime running lights, and a more chiseled front bumper. New wheel designs were also introduced, with the top-of-the-line GLX now rolling on 17-inch two-tone alloys. The GL+, on the other hand, gets the smaller 16-inch set. Finally, a fresh new set of taillights give the Vitara's rear a cooler finish, especially at night.
If the outside received a noticeable change, the cabin of the 2020 Vitara remains relatively unchanged. However, the instrument panel now features a bigger multi-info display with high-resolution graphics. Moreover, the upper instrument panel now comes with soft-touch padding for a better fit and finish. Like the pre-facelift version, a panoramic sunroof is available on the top-of-the-line GLX.
Providing in-car entertainment is a new Linux -based ten-inch touchscreen system. It supports the usual AM/FM radio, Aux, USB, and Bluetooth. It even comes with features like smartphone mirroring, navigation, and Wi-Fi hotspot. More importantly, the new system now comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The ten-inch touchscreen is only available for the GLX while the GL+ comes with a smaller 8-inch touchscreen display.
Other standard amenities available in the refreshed Vitara are: automatic climate control, steering wheel audio controls, cruise control, center armrest for the driver/front passenger, and offline navigation via SD card.
Under the hood, the refreshed Vitara still gets its power from a 1.6-liter, naturally-aspirated inline-four. Dubbed the M16A, the engine produces a modest 115 PS at 6000 rpm, along with 156 Nm of torque at 4400 rpm. As before, the Vitara is only available with one transmission, a six-speed automatic with manual select via paddle shifters.
A plethora of safety features come as standard across all variants of the 2020 Vitara. These include: dual front airbags, anti-lock brakes with electronic brakeforce distribution and brake assist, stability and traction controls, hill hold control, rear parking sensors, alarm with immobilizer, and ISOFIX child seat anchors. Available only on the top-spec GLX, however, are the curtain and side airbags, front parking sensors, and a reverse camera.
Pricing of the 2020 Suzuki Vitara are as follows:
2020 Suzuki Vitara GL+ 1.6L A/T - PhP 1,038,000
2020 Suzuki Vitara GLX 1.6L A/T - PhP 1,158,000
